New Bharatiya Eucalyptus will increase farmers’ income by three times

NEW DELHI: Plant genetics scientists in Dehradun have development three new varieties of Eucalyptus which will produce three to four times more timber on the same piece of land than the existing verities. Besides, they are disease-free and suitable to the ecological conditions of ‘Bharat’ (India).

These varieties along with 17 more high-yield plant vari- eties were released by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) on Monday. “These varieties of Eucalyptus are around 18 per cent taller, 18 per cent more wide and have 33 per cent more biomass. These varieties are suitable to ecological conditions of the country and we have given them Hindi names as well,” said Ashok Kumar, scientist and head genetics and tree propagation, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. The names of the varieties are Sahaj, Riju and Charus.

“A farmer will get three times more timber from these varieties on same resources of land, water and time. This will definitely increase income of farmers in the country,” added Kumar. As per the research in the institute, all the three new varieties yield 19.44 cubic meters per hectare per annum wood against the present productivity level of 5-7 cubic meter per hectare per annum.

These genetically-advanced varieties are immune to two crucial diseases — pink disease and wall gasp — which destroy the timber. Eucalyptus is a native of Australia and these varieties are considered a landmark in the direction of producing high-yield clones in Bharat.

“These varieties will have fewer branches and smaller crown shape, that will help produce high quality wood,” added the scientist. As Eucalyptus matures in around eight years, a farmer will get timber equal to 3,300 plants of the current varieties from 1,100 plants of any of these three varieties in one hectare land. Scientists from the same institute have already developed ten varieties of high-yield Melia Dubia, a timber plant of Neem family.

“The released cultivars of Melia, popularly known as Dreake, or Malabar Neem, not only have a high productivity per unit area, with an average of 34.57 cubic metre per hectare per annum, but also have an excellent bole form, which is a desirable characteristic for plywood industry,” informed Kumar. They are also named as per Bharatiya traditions and Sarad produces highest 55 meter cubic per hectare per annum.